An End and A New Beginning
by yuni30
Summary: The story of how Professor Membrane finally shows his kids how much he really cares... And how dib finally takes up his father's legacy.  Warning: An original character of Johen Vasquez's Invader Zim may die In this story. Ain't it heart breaking?


_**Ten years into the future: Everything is the same, except for the fact that Zim has decided to live like a civilian & not dispose of the planet, Dib decided he would pursue solving paranormal mysteries but now goes to college learning about the C.I.A., & Gaz- also in college- was learning to be a game designer.**_

It was another day at the Membrane labs as usual. The famous professor was working on his usual stuff. Just as he was about done putting the finishing touches on his latest invention, he received a report from one of his assistants.

"Sir, the radioactive mutant squirrels have escaped from their cages," The assistant yelled through his pager equipped goggles.

Membrane completely took his eyes of his latest invention in fear. He obviously remembered the last time they had escaped. They had killed at least four of his most valuable assistants. Grief & shock spread across his face, not that you could tell since only one third of his face was visible. "Capture them, but be sure not to touch them or let them bite you!"

There was silence on the other end. Membrane expected the assistant to reply as usual.

"Andrew," Membrane asked, clearly reading the name off of the goggle's inside screen to see who had paged him.

"Professor, get out of your laboratory right now! The squirrels... their- Eaaaahhhhh," Yelled one of the guards who was paging him from the outside.

Membrane's eyes widened even more in fear.

All of a sudden a green eerie glow emitted from the double doors which now seemed to burn with the strange light.

"Oh, no..." Membrane backed away from the spot he was at as the green radioactive squirrels burned into the door whilst walking into the laboratory. He knew there was no escape. It was inevitable. Membrane was going to die that day.

The squirrels jumped at him with evil fangs & bio-mechanical limbs ready to bite him & maul him to death.

He ran around trying to avoid the evil & toxic formerly cute rodents of nature. He made round to the doors that he had locked with a special key from the inside. He fumbled around in his pocket trying to find the key. Poor Membrane forgot he had placed the keys on the lab table & now was frantically looking through his pockets in means to escape!

The squirrels used this as a chance to attack Membrane. He tried to dodge the radioactive rodents, but alas, one bit into his leg & sent the legendary science crazed professor to the ground. They bit him, scratched & did everything possible to ensure that he would never see the light of day again.

Someone had finally found a titanium net & captured the crazed rodents, once they had made it out of Membrane's lab.

Membrane, still alive, braced himself up on the door & discovered he was bleeding everywhere. He set his pager to call 9-1-1 & let himself stay silent while the dispatcher asked questions. Once the female dispatcher hung up, Membrane called up both Gaz & Dib who were, surprisingly, roommates during college. "Dib, Gaz," Membrane asked weakly. "Come to my laboratory. It's very important that you get here now." After that, he moved over to lean against the lab table legs so if anyone knocked the door down he wouldn't get anymore hurt than he already was.

In a matter of time a fireman, accompanied by a bunch of paramedics, broke down the laboratory door. Dib & Gaz were right behind them.

Dib, who had grown much taller in the last ten years, quickly went to his father's side when the scientifically obsessed professor was hoisted onto a mobile medical bed & was attached to an I.V. "Dad? What happened?"

Membrane gasped a few words. "Should have never made those half robotic, toxic squirrels..."

Dib & Gaz followed the firefighters & paramedics out to the ambulance that would take Professor Membrane to the hospital. Because they were blood relatives of the insane professor, they were allowed to ride in the ambulance with their dying father.

On the way there, Membrane said he had something he needed to tell them. "Dib, Gaz... I know I'm preoccupied with my work, but I have always loved you. I may not be around all the time but you should at least know that I actually do care... I'm sorry..."

Dib & Gaz looked quietly at their father who was slowly but surely beginning to fade.

"I finally was able to finish my latest creation... But this time it's not for humanity, it's for my family. It's a device that can read the minds of people who are deceased, but I made it strictly for you two. I made a will not too long ago & made sure that the first person that it is tested on is me, & the person to use the device will possibly be one of you...," Membrane gasped in a raspy voice. His life was beginning to really come to an end.

"Dib... Try to take up the role of a real scientist... because before we reach the hospital... my time will be up. The world needs a person to take my place..." Membrane's voice was beginning to wane more & more. His pulse was dropping rapidly. "I'll love you children forever, even when I'm gone...," Membrane managed to say.

Dib held his father's hand, in fear that this was really the end for Professor Membrane.

Membrane's pulse hit rock bottom. This was the saddest thing that had had happened to the Membrane family.

* * *

Before the funeral they followed the will & removed the famous professor's brain. Using cosmetic surgery, they patched up his head so that no one would notice.

The funeral was like any other, minus the fact that the world & his family turned up to see the now dead Professor Membrane to pay him their respects. The funeral, because of the large amount of people, took all day.

The next day was big for Dib & Gaz. They uncapped the jar that had held their now dead father's brain & placed it in the anti gravity field that Membrane had built. They aimed the scanner in a way that would scan the brain on one end & project the memories through the other. So they could hear what their dead father was thinking, they hooked up a speaker system.

With the scanner set at the point when they had come into the world, the date that they had begun their lives.

Through the vision of their dad's memory they saw a young infant lying in a crib. It was Dib. They kept hearing over & over again from Membrane how happy he was about having a child to not only take up his famous work, but to care for as well. Through his memory, they saw their father pick up Dib & cradle him in his arms, assessing the child's weight & size.

Gaz & Dib watched quietly as their father's memory continued to play through the projector. They sped it up, thanks to the boring stages of Dib being an infant, to when Membrane's wife had died in a horrible accident. This distanced the poor insane genius further away from his family. He loved them very much but he was now too devoted to his job to spend time with them.

"If it weren't for my assistants having so many faults in their own minds I would be home with my family! Yet, science is part of my existence! Oh, how I wish there were a way to be in two places at once!" They saw, in their father's vision, hit the table with his balled up gloved fists with frustration. He looked up, through what they could see, with a grand idea: Record himself giving life lessons to his kids without actually talking to them personally.

They fast forwarded to the dates when he did spend time with them. They heard him think things like: "I need to check the containment levels of my latest experiment." or "I need to make sure that nothing is wrong at the laboratory." But the most meaningful thing was "I wish we could do this more often... with my dear son & daughter."

The last memory of their departed dad was before he died. It was just before the paramedics got to him. "I have a strong feeling that this is my last day alive. This is where all of my efforts for my latest invention will pay off... Dib... Gaz, if my invention works, I want you to think of me as your loving father, not the inattentive person who you lived with, in the past. I know you may think this as unfair, but all I wish is to be seen as someone who cared for you very much. If you have already seen the memories of some of my past, you know that I wanted the best for you & that I wasn't always thinking of my research... All you need to know now is that... that... You're my whole life, & I'm sorry for placing my job before you..."

Dib & Gaz both teared up at their father's next to last thoughts. This also concluded their experiment. They sealed up their father's brain & removed the disk that had been recorded on the projector.

They walked outside the laboratory. "You know... I might just take up real science after all. It would better the world, since we all know that there isn't some alien invasion. Dad would want that."

Gaz looked over to her older brother. "As long as you don't mess around with my stuff I'm fine with that. Just stay out of my way, Dib!"

"You got it!"

And so, they ran back to their dorm to make a copy of the CD as proof that their beloved father had actually cared about them.

**I know... this one was a little tragic because Professor Membrane dies, but hey... Did Leonardo 'Da Vinci live forever? No! But this one was mainly about how Membrane finally said something about how he felt about his family. **

**There's these two fanarts that show something & maybe a few others that drove me to write this story. One is where Dib & Gaz are all mopey eating cereal & their dad had recorded something earlier where he's saying "I love you guys..." Then there's one where some person finds poor Professor Membrane murdered in his office or something (or possibly he had a heart attack or he swallowed a piece of metal by accident & bled to death!). I also saw a few where Dib is hugging his dad whilst the scientific genius is sitting in his favorite chair. Course there is this one where Dib is on "Probing the Membrane of Science: With Professor Membrane" & he gets fried & Membrane gets all emotional. **

**Yeah... Just wanted it to make it seem that Membrane had a heart spiritually. You know… Make it less like Professor Membrane is an automaton from a distant planet with absolutely no feelings!**


End file.
